Sermon: What Are You Waiting For?
Scripture Text: Acts 2:1-13
Quotes for Reflection
Charles Wesley, O Thou Who Camest from Above
O Thou who camest from above,
the pure celestial fire to'impart,
kindle a flame of sacred love
upon the altar of my heart.
Richard Belward Rackham’s commentary, The Acts of the Apostles: An Exposition
Every new beginning in thought or life is inevitably accompanied by disturbance. There is the struggle with the old, and the re-adjustment to the new, environment. So the coming of the Spirit is followed by irregular and abnormal phenomena. Like Jordan, the full and plenteous flood of the Spirit ‘overflows all its banks’ (Josh. 3:15). At first the old worn-out vessels of humanity cannot contain it; and there is a flood of strange and novel spiritual experiences. But when it has worn for itself a deep channel in the church, when the laws of the new spiritual life are learnt and understood, then some of the irregular phenomena disappear, others become normal, and what was thought to be miraculous is found to be a natural endowment of the Christian life.
N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone
The coming of the spirit at Pentecost, in other words, is the complementary fact to the ascension of Jesus into heaven. The risen Jesus in heaven is the presence, in God’s sphere, of the first part of ‘earth’ to be transformed into ‘new creation’ in which heaven and earth are joined; the pouring out of the spirit on earth is the presence, in our sphere, of the sheer energy of heaven itself. The gift of the spirit is thus the direct result of the ascension of Jesus. Because he is the Lord of all, his energy, the power to be and do something quite new, is available through the spirit to all who call on him, all who follow him, all who trust him.
Application Questions
1. How has a season of waiting shaped your life recently? In what ways might God be using that tension to deepen your trust in him?
2. Why is Jesus’ ascension essential for shaping our perspective in times of waiting, longing, or uncertainty?
3. Where is the Spirit inviting you to trust more deeply as you seek to live out God’s calling in your life?